Philly’s #1 in Clean Water & Hot in Green Progress: Roundup

I know Mayor Nutter wants Philly to be America’s greenest city by 2015, but we’re surely making some progress as of late! Here’s a roundup of the latest green movers & shakers:

• Once again, Philly is making positive headlines for being #1 in something…Water! The National Resources Defense Council assessed 6 actions for employing green infrastructure solutions to clean water supplies. (This is basically finding water collection & filtration systems to absorb rainfall before its polluted, protecting the supply before its tainted.)  Philly was found to be exemplary in all 6 categories.  This is partially due to the Green City, Clean Waters plan that Mayor Nutter has been pushing. Thanks Michael!
• SEPTA is finally axing with those god-awful tokens & tickets and instead replacing them with “Smart Cards at electronic turnstiles.  Passengers will be able to pay with debit, credit cards & smartphones, expected to be fully implemented within 3 years. Let’s hope one of the Philadelphia sports teams can win a championship in that time-frame, so everyone flocking to a parade down Broad can experience this upgrade.
• Our Philadelphia International Airport may still have a ton of delays, but was awarded the Green Vision Award for its initiatives to use renewable energy and reduce emissions.
• New to me, SEPTA’s Silverliner cars step up public transit in Philly. (When I ventured out to the suburbs on Friday night, I questioned if I had hopped on the wrong train.)  120 of these commuter trains, complete with nice seats & video monitors announcing stops, should be replacing much of SEPTA’s old fleet… A crucial step to encourage public transit & a greener city.  Keep trucking with these upgrades, SEPTA!